Directions to the wedding venue

Matt and I went to Eureka Springs earlier this week to pick up our marriage license and scope things out. We followed the directions we'd printed off of Mapquest, and they got us to Eureka Springs just fine; once we arrived in town, though, the directions became useless. So if you have Mapquest directions to the Inn, disregard the part about turning onto Glen Avenue and so forth, and do this instead:

Follow the highway into town. On the left you'll eventually see a big sign pointing you down into the Historic Downtown area. Turn here. This is Main Street (not that you'll ever see a street sign). Follow Main Street all the way down (at one point the road splits into a high road and a low road; take the low road) until you see a train station on the right. On your left, immediately across the street from the train station, is a street going up the hill. This is Grande Avenue. Turn here, and then IMMEDIATELY make another sharp left onto the street running almost parallel to Main. This is Hillside Avenue. There are three B&Bs along this road, but only two of them have signs at each end of a driveway that serves all three. The first sign is for Arsenic & Old Lace. The second is for The Angel at Rose Hall. Turn into either entrance, because our B&B, The Inn at Rose Hall, sits directly between them.

This should get you there. Of course, if you still manage to get lost, our experience was that the locals are very friendly and happy to help you get where you're going.

Clearing up some confusion

It seems that I didn't word my reception invitations very clearly and, unless it's read very carefully, it's not clear that it's an invitation to the reception and not the wedding. We apologize for the confusion. The wedding itself will be a private ceremony in Eureka Springs. Since it's a considerable distance away and seating at the venue is extremely limited, the only guests there will be our immediate family members and the wedding party themselves. The reception held the following week at my mother's house is for everybody whom we're unable to include at the wedding. Which is practically everybody.

If you received a silver, black and white invitation with a black bow, that is specifically for the reception on September 15th and NOT for the wedding on September 9th. It should read something more like,

"Matt and Jean are getting marred in Eureka Springs on September 9th. Please join us in celebration at a reception to be held in their honor on September 15th, etc."

I tried to be all formal and proper in my wording and as a result my meaning got all muddled. Again, I'm sorry.

Wedding Party Bios: The Bridesmaids

Elizabeth "Liz" Huckleby (Matron of Honor/Matchmaker) is the bride's baby sister. She's also the one who is ultimately responsible for this whole thing, since it was she who first browbeat the happy couple into letting her introduce them to each other. Her own wedding to husband Brandon took place in June, 2000, and a few years after that son Ashton Scott joined the world and made it a much more interesting place to be. Liz works at RCB in Claremore and runs her own photography business on the side, and hopes that this will eventually be turned the other way around.

Although Stephanie "Tessy" Smith (Maid of Honor) has known Jeanie since first grade, they didn't officially start to hang out until sixth grade. But once they did, it didn't take long for them to become BFF (that's "Best Friends Forever" for those of you who don't speak junior high). Unlike lesser BFF bonds that didn't even last through high school, theirs has withstood the test of time, geography, and busy grown-up lives. It has even withstood the test of long and hairy roadtrips, forced bad movie screenings, and the occasional pawning off of pets. Tess has stood unflinchingly by Jeanie through her toughest times and most embarrasingly geeky fangirl endeavors, so it's only fitting that she stand next to her for this, the most important moment in Jeanie's life.

Jeanie & Matt: How We Got Here

Jeanie didn't want to be set up. She was too busy trying to write a novel to have time for dating, and besides, she simply didn't do blind dates. Ever. But when her sister's persistence in trying to convince her to take a chance on this "cool" guy she knew from work got on Jeanie's last nerve, she began to cave--but only just barely. She passed along the URL to her online journal with the instructions that if Matt was still interested after reading it, he could e-mail her, and they'd take it from there.

And take it they did. From Matt's first e-mail, Jeanie could tell that he was something special. Soon e-mails turned into phone conversations during which he was entranced by her "sexy voice" and she was charmed by his sense of humor (and his voice wasn't bad, either). Finally, after a month of e-mailing and phoning, they agreed to an honest-to-goodness date, albeit a chaperoned one in the company of Jeanie's sister and brother-in-law. The initial group date ended with hugs and promises to do it again ASAP "without the training wheels." The next date (Thai food and Spider-man 2) ended with the certainty of many more to come. The third (a picnic under the stars) ended with "I love you"s and a kiss that made Jeanie's toes curl up. Before they knew it they were discussing honeymoon destinations and how long to wait before starting a family. Planning their lives together came as naturally as breathing. They go together like Elvis and Vegas--one without the other feels strange and incomplete.

And so they're getting married, and--although they were tempted--are managing to do so without involving either Elvis or Vegas. It might be small, but this wedding will be a class act. But whatever unexpected chaos might arrive on the big day, this bride and groom both know that in the end, the only thing that truly matters is that from this day forward, they'll each be in the other's corner, holding each other up through life, for the rest of their lives; and that no man--no thing -- will ever put asunder the love with which they have been blessed.

We're making progress...

The wedding contract with the Inn arrived yesterday. I need to call and make some corrections, most importantly that the dates booked for the honeymoon suite are wrong (they've got us down for Friday and Saturday instead of Saturday and Sunday). I also need to raise the guest count. Since they allow a slightly larger number of guests than the other chapel we were considering, I can thankfully invite all of my nephews now. It also looks like we'll need to book another room somewhere nearby to use to get ready, since the contract states that only two people can use the room at a time and they don't have any other changing facilities. And I'm not about to ask the entire wedding party to get all dressed up before a three hour car ride.

Otherwise, preparations are moving along. I've got most of my flowers for the bouquets, and the card stock for my invitations. And Matt and I registered at Target this weekend. We didn't fill it completely up yet, but we got a good start. I also registered online with a few other stores, but we haven't added anything to those yet. I called the seamstress and found out I can still have another month or so to work on losing weight before I have to get my dress in for a fitting. And I'm not too far from being finished knitting my bridesmaids' shawls. I'm starting to think that I'll actually be able to get everything done in the next few months. Of course, we haven't even started planning the reception yet, but I'm gonna let my mom handle the bulk of that one.